Interview and photos: Aybüke Gürutku
Miray from İzmir( a port city in Western Türkiye) told us about the lead pouring ritual she experienced with her grandmother.
My grandmother had not been feeling well physically for a while and everything she tried did not help. Her health condition had deteriorated very suddenly and we couldn't find a reason. She said she believed it was because of the evil eye and wanted to have lead pouring and melting ritual. It was my first time seeing a ritual like this.
A very old woman came to our house. She had brought a ladle with her, but it was quite unusual. Unlike a typical ladle, it had a much longer handle and a significantly deeper bowl. She asked us to bring some items: a sinker (we picked up one of the sinkers you attach to fishing lines), a handful of brambles from a broom, breadcrumbs, something green and related to nature (I picked some flowers for this), and a metal safety pin and we also added some water to the pot. We had a small camp stove, and they placed the sinker inside their own ladle, started melting it slowly. They covered my grandmother with a sheet and held the pot containing water and other ingredients over her head. The person poured the melted sinker into this pot. She said that the needle and bramble stuck to the lead because the negative energy on my grandmother.
She repeated this process three times. Each time, the lead took on a different form, and shemade comments based on these shapes. "Someone tall with fair skin in a crowded place has given you the evil eye and made you sick," she said. Later, she melted the lead again and poured it outside the door.
I thought it was very interesting that she was interpreting meanings from different shapes, so I asked her to perform the ritual on me as well. The ritual was conducted similarly, but unlike my grandmother's, flowers and breadcrumbs stuck to my lead. she said this had a positive meaning and indicated that my energy was clean, so it was appropriate for my water to remain inside the house instead of being taken to the forest.
What do the experts say?
The practice known as molybdomancy (from molybdos meaning "lead" and mancy meaning "divination") or oomancy (from oo meaning "egg" and mancy meaning "divination") in ancient Greece was used, especially in the Middle Ages, to determine whether hunters had been affected by magic and to ascertain the cause of illness.
Lead pouring is associated with fire cults and matriarchy. The practitioner is almost always a woman. Fire serves as a conduit for communication with protective and supernatural beings. It is possible to consider the various materials added to the pot as offerings (Polat, 2020).
fumigation with adraspan in kazakhstan
There are also many rituals against the evil eye in Kazakhstan. One of them is fumigation with adraspan (garmala). I interviewed, 20-year-old Zhaniya from the largest city of Kazakhstan - Almaty.
She says that her mother does it too.
Many people think that ancient traditions and rituals have been preserved only in the villages. Zhaniya will prove to you that this is a wrong opinion.
it happen?!
They buy a bush of adraspan grass (garmala) at the bazaar. Come home and put the adraspan in an iron dish, set fire to the paper and throw it into the dish.
First, each family member is fumigated in a circular motion. If someone has black smoke coming out, it means that that person was jinxed and the evil eye flew out with this smoke.
Then they fumigate the whole house, every room, since harmala is considered not only a saving force from corruption, all sorts of devils and other demons and the evil eye, but also cleanses from sinful thoughts, banishes diseases, disinfects and does many other good things.
Also, one of the interesting facts is that adraspan was considered an antiseptic for the home during the coronavirus. Therefore, prices for adraspan have risen 2-3 times in Kazakhstan.
90% of Kazakhs know about this ritual.
Since the professors consider it a trace of the Cult of fire — one of the most ancient beliefs of the Kazakh people. Fumigation with adraspan has not lost its value so far, because it is a spiritual legacy inherited from our ancestors. Although, it might be self-suggestion too, not the power of ritual.
Harmala (ispand, isirik, adraspan)
Common harmala- is a perennial herbaceous plant ;species of the genus Harmala of the family Pairifolium. It grows in the semi - arid speppes of Eastern Europe and Central Asia. A poisonous plant with medicinal properties.
The Central Asia's mythology reflection many signs and rituals associated with the Harmala. To escape from the evil eye, the following ceremony is performed:some burial seeds of harmala, garlic peels and salt are thrown onto highly heated metal or burning coals.
The easiest way to use harmala is fumigation. This remedy is known in almost all countries of the Middle East. The seeds of the harmala are thrown onto hot coals or metal. It is believed that the smoke from the plant can drive out evil spirits and protect against the evil eye. This wonderful smell of burning seeds really attracts and intoxicating .
"Whoever jinxed us, we burn his evil eye "
But first holding all these objects in your hands, you need to approach each family member, draw circle with your hand with seeds over their heads three times, after each movement, touch your right shoulder and say the sacred phrase: " Whoever jinxed us, we burn his evil eye "
About...
Fortune-tellers and witches
Sometimes, during times of uncertainty in their personal lives, careers, health or when there is instability in the world around them, people prefer to turn not to psychologists or doctors, but to fortune-tellers and healers. This may be due both to a distrust of scientific and generally accepted methods of solving problems, and to a penchant for so-called"magical thinking " . In any case, even in the 21st century, some unknown and mysterious.
Why do many people in Central Asia and around the world believe to fortune-tellers?
No one has yet found an answer to this question. There are many fortune-tellers in Central Asia: they assures people that they have a third eye and they assures people that they can reveal their enemies. Fortune-tellers also assures that they have ; invisible people who tell about the future of their clients.
Witchcraft, -as most commonly understood in both historical and present-day communities, is the use of alleged supernatural powers of magic. A whitch is a practitioner of whitcraft. Traditionally, "whitcraft" means the use of magic or supernatural powers to inflict harm or misfortune on others, and this remains the most common and widespread meaning.
Most often, withches cause damage on photographs of a person or some kind of food.
- Protect your house in Turkish Style
- Clean your house with vinegar water regularly.
- Hang a Nazar( evil eye) charm at the entrance door.
- Burn sage or hyssop incense in your home and hold it towards the highest corners of each room.
- Protect your body in Tajik Style• Bracelets against the evil eye are usually worn by children
- Women's wear beads against the evil eye.
- The Tajik people believe that fumigation of harmala (ispand ) protects against the evil eye
- Protect your family in Kazakh Style
- .Buy a bush of adraspan grass (garmala) at the bazaar. Come home and put the adraspan in an iron dish, set fire to the paper and throw it into the dish.
- fumigate each family member in a circular motion
- fumigate the whole house, every room
